Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller became $20 million richer today, according to documents filed with the SEC. The papers show that Schiller cashed in a ton of Apple stock for more than $18 million in cash.
In all, Schiller sold a total of 37,172 shares of common stock at a price of $500 for a total haul of $18.6 million. That's almost exactly half of his 75,000 shares that vested in June, which was half of the 150,000 share bonus he received last fall...
Following today's unexpected news of Google's SVP Andy Rubin leaving Android to focus on moonshot projects at the Internet giant - and conveniently just 24 hours ahead of Samsung's big unveiling of the Galaxy S4 at the Unpacked event in New York City - Apple's SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller sat down with The Wall Street Journal to pooh-pooh the Android platform.
He's touched upon several controversial topics, including Android fragmentation and lack of integration. And dismissing the looming Samsung launch, the exec called Android "a free replacement for a feature phone" and cited Apple's own research claiming four times as many iPhone users switched from Android than to Android during the fourth quarter...
Phil Schiller, although probably the most active Twitter user of the Apple executive team, doesn't tweet much. And when he does, it's usually generic things like "new Flipboard app for iPhone is very nice," or "way to go Giants!!!"
But the Worldwide Marketing SVP switched things up a bit this morning, tweeting out a very deliberate link to a new mobile malware report by F-Labs that slams Android for its malware issues, telling folks to "be safe out there..."
And the plot continues to thicken. After two major news outlets ran stories earlier this week claiming that Apple was working on a less-expensive iPhone, Reuters reported that the company had no such plans, citing comments made to a Chinese newspaper by Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller.
But as most of you know, Reuters retracted the report earlier today. It was unclear at the time why it had chosen to remove the story, but it's attempting to clear things up this afternoon with a new report called "Apple won't blindly pursue market share" that helps shed some light on what happened...
Just a quick thought here on this less-pricey iPhone meme. Per reports, Apple's marketing boss Phil Schiller uncharacteristically responded with a statement to Shanghai Evening News in order to poke holes in the rumor that was beginning to pick up considerable steam. He claims that "despite the popularity of cheap smartphones", such a device "will never be the future of Apple’s products".
But it's an ambiguous dismissal (it's translated from Japanese) and it does't outright deny whispers of Apple internally exploring the idea. His words just don't tell the whole truth. Plus, Apple has a history of lying to the media. The company often makes bold denials, only to refute its own rebuttal by doing exactly what it's said won't do. If Android is anything to go by, an affordable iPhone could easily make a huge difference...
Samsung is planning to refresh its flagship consumer electronics products at a media event on February 21, rumors are swirling that Apple is about to branch out the iPhone into two hardware versions: one flagship model aimed at high-end consumers and the other budget model costing up to $149, reportedly made from cheaper materials and possibly crammed with less features.
The inexpensive device, according to the latest chatter, should be targeted at price-conscious shoppers in China and other emerging markets. Though both WSJ and Bloomberg over the past year reported a few times that Apple executives have explored a less expensive iPhone sold without a contractual obligation, the company's SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller has reportedly debunked the rumor in an interview with a Japanese newspaper...
The South Korean conglomerate Samsung will get another crack at questioning Phil Schiller, Apple's SVP of Worldwide Marketing, as part of the appeal proceedings concerning the Apple v. Samsung monster suit, a California court ordered yesterday following a request from Samsung lawyers. Apple must make Schiller available for another deposition this coming Monday. The massive lawsuit culminated when the jury handed the verdict, awarding Apple more than $1 billion in damages (the company wants more) while also ruling it did not infringe upon any of the patents held by its South Korean rival...
In a classic marketing 101 move, online retailer Amazon last week highlighted the iPad mini's perceived flaws in a huge Kindle Fire HD ad on its web site. The move came after Amazon uncharacteristically compared the iPad mini to its tablet in an earnings release announcing its first loss in nine years. Advertising against the iPad mini, Amazon listed Apple's device as having a mono speaker versus dual stereo speakers on its tablet. Some people likely bought this as Apple's own web page makes no mention of stereo speakers and the Tech Specs page only confirms "built-in speaker".
Always quick to right the wrongs, Apple's head honcho of worldwide marketing allegedly confirmed in an email exchange with a fan that the smaller iPad does have built-in stereo speakers. We expect Amazon to update its homepage ad shortly...
Like his boss Tim Cook, Apple's head honcho of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller is doing some explaining these days. After the iPad mini arrived and surprised folks who've been holding their breath for a $199 iPad, he sat with Reuters to explain that Apple doesn't know how to make a $199 tablet that isn't a piece of junk.
Today, he defends the device's $329 starting price in an interview with TIME. He also explains why Apple ignored netbooks and how the company, after seven generations of the iMac, came about dropping a built-in optical drive on the revamped lineup and what it means for the future of computing...
I have long insisted that Android people (lots of them, but not all) aren't accustomed to pay for quality because Google envision Android as an ad-supported ecosystem, an extension of its business philosophy on the web. Some Apple fans were taken aback when Apple priced the iPad mini at $329 rather than $249 or even $199. While analysts believe the current price defends the iPad ecosystem from above and have no doubt the gizmo will be a smash hit, Apple's head honcho of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller went on the record to defend the iPad mini's price tag, here's what came out of him...
Yesterday we emphasized the lack of an ambient light sensor in the 5th generation iPod touch after initially highlighting the omission in our iPod touch 5th gen review.
Now a reader claims to have emailed Apple's SVP of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, and received a response explaining the drop of the sensor. The reason for the omission? It's just too thin.
Phil Schiller, SVP of Worldwide Marketing, is also known as steward of Apple's relationship with app developers. Increasingly, Schiller is becoming the public face of Apple, which shouldn't come as a surprise given how he "channeled Jobs’s perspective so consistently”, according to a Businessweek profile.
Schiller was the guy who told us why the iPhone 5 doesn't have NFC, he also lowered expectations that the Passbook app would become an e-wallet solution and reminded us of the Apple way of doing things.
And now, Apple has dispatched its marketing honcho to help alleviate growing concerns that the iPhone 5 is susceptible to scratches and scuffs due to its anodized aluminum surface being only skin deep...